Question: If the sales tax in your city is $9.8\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$197$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${9.8\%} \times {\$197} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $9.8\%$ is equivalent to $9.8 \div 100$ $9.8 \div 100 = 0.098$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.098$ $\times$ $$197$ = $$19.31$ You would pay $$19.31$ in sales tax.